Posts Tagged 'India'

So tomorrow onwards I know how my evenings would be spent – sitting in front of the TV and trying to catch every ball of the India’s tour to England. After the WC, Cricket had taken a backseat with the advertisements taking up the prime time during IPL. I’m hoping (foolishly, I know) that there are less ads for the India-England series.

When I compare the teams, I feel England is a tad better than the Indian team. Without Sehwag, Indian opening combination fades in front of England’s combination. Middle order (# 3, 4, 5) is India’s strong point whereas the # 6 and 7 – it is a tossup. On his day Dhoni is better than anybody else, but he has been performing sporadically in the test matches. And when we compare the bowlers it is absolutely clear which team is superior. Swann, Anderson, and Tremlett – all are very very dangerous. And when you look at India’s bowling lineup it starts and ends with Zaheer. Bhajji is not the same aggressive bowler that he used to be, Sreesanth is plain mad, and the maximum hope I have is from Ishant. He showed signs of regaining the form he showed in Australia. Remember the Ponting-Ishant tussle?

And since England is at home, they had that advantage too. So I predict it to be a drawn series: 1-1 with rain playing spoilsport in the other two matches 🙂

Whatever be the result, cannot wait to watch high quality test matches once again!

But Tendulkar is more than the sum of his figures. His mere presence is a morale booster, both for his ten colleagues in the team, and the billion supporters outside it. As remarkable as his record is his self-possession. His head hasn’t changed size, his boots haven’t grown smaller. He alone knows what it means to be Tendulkar, with its frustrations, its sacrifices, and the need to be Tendulkar at all times. He is a one-man university that teaches sportsmen how to handle money, fame and pressure.

I cannot say anything better then that article, will add just this commentary bit from Cricinfo:

Johnson to Tendulkar, 2 runs, Hops at the crease to meet a short of a length delivery, he fends it off wide of fine leg and wants the third run, Ganguly refuses it and an irate Tendulkar reacts by saying “Come on yaar”

So Ganguly has taken the plunge, who would replace him for the England series? In all probability I’d say it would be either Badrinath or Yuvraj… Let us say that Dravid decides to hang his boots after the England series (let us be realistic, after Ganguly he is most prone to being dropped), for the replacement my money would be on the unselected of Badrinath/Yuvraj.

Next up would be the tour to Pakistan where a semi-new middle order would take guard – Laxman, Sachin, Yuvraj, Badrinath with Rohit Sharma as the extra batsman. Laxman would be 35, Sachin would be almost 36; but I’d say both of them would play even the next series against New Zealand. India then does not have any Tests till September end. By then I think Kumble would have retired, and Dhoni would have taken over the test captaincy too. Going by the current crop of spinners, I’d say Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra would be the most likely replacement for Kumble. Laxman & Sachin would be close to retiring too, with Rohit Sharma, Kaif, and maybe Virat Kohli staking claim to the middle order positions. I’m hoping Zaheer Khan has at least 3-4 years of Cricket left in him, otherwise RP Singh would get another go at Test cricket.

I hope at that time Sachin, Laxman help the test-match newbies to complete their transition from the wham-bam to real Cricket and then retire gracefully by 2009 end or 2010 start & then we would keep our fingers crossed for the next 1-2 years that the Indian Test Team completes its makeover successfully.

By mid-2010, the team would read

Sehwag

Gambhir

Badrinath

Rohit Sharma

Yuvraj

Kaif/Kohli

Dhoni

Bhajji

Ishant

Chawla/Mishra

Zak

The bowling is still good, but I am really doubtful about the batsman, except of course Sehwag… I hope this Indian Team’s transition goes smoothly.

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I write! Topic does not matter, can be my life, or my travels, or any match I saw, or the Hyderabadi life, or reminiscing about Raipur, or penning Short Stories & 55s.